GAO Concludes US-VISIT Is A "Risky Endeavor" - September 30, 2003

In a congressionally mandated review of the US VISIT program, the General Accounting Office (GAO) has analyzed and reported on influential factors at stake, including potential costs and a governance structure that has not yet been established. In its report, the GAO concluded that the US-VISIT program is a “risky endeavor.”

The United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program is a DHS operation designed to strengthen management of the pre-entry, entry, status and exit of foreigners who travel to the U.S. US-VISIT will facilitate trade and travel as well as enhance national security.

The GAO found that some risk factors are inherent to the program, such as its mission criticality, its size and complexity, and its enormous potential costs. Other factors spring from the immature state of the program’s governance and management. The GAO reported that ten factors in particular make it “uncertain that US-VISIT will be able to measurably and appreciably achieve DHS’s stated goals for the program” and current investments may not deliver promised capabilities within the expected budget and timeframe set aside for its development.

The ten factors that make US-VISIT a “risky endeavor,” according to the GAO, are as follows:

• The mission is critical

• The scope is large and complex

• Milestones are challenging

• Potential cost is significant

·         Existing systems have known problems

• Governance structure is not established

• Program management capability is not implemented

• Operational context is unsettled

• Near-term facilities solutions pose challenges

• Mission value of first increment is currently unknown

To address these issues, the GAO report recommends that the DHS establish an executive body to guide and direct the program and to take steps to “establish an effective program management capability.” The DHS concurred with the recommendations and officials said they were making progress toward addressing them.

The full report, titled “Risks Facing Key Border and Transportation Security Program Need To Be Addressed,” is available online at: http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d031083high.pdf